powerstat
Measure system power consumption statistics
TLDR
Measure power with defaults
$ powerstat
Measure with custom interval and samples$ powerstat [10] [20]
Use RAPL interface$ powerstat -R [10] [20]
Show histogram$ powerstat -H [10] [20]
Enable all statistics$ powerstat -a [10] [20]
SYNOPSIS
powerstat [-a] [-H] [-R] [interval] [samples]
DESCRIPTION
powerstat measures system power consumption using battery discharge rate or Intel's RAPL (Running Average Power Limit) interface. It provides statistical analysis of power usage over time.
The tool is useful for evaluating power efficiency of applications, kernel settings, or hardware configurations on laptops and servers.
PARAMETERS
interval
Seconds between measurements (default: 10)samples
Number of measurements (default: 10)-a
Enable all statistics gathering-H
Show histogram of measurements-R
Use Intel RAPL interface instead of battery-d
Show distribution statistics-z
Show zero/idle power estimate
CAVEATS
Battery mode requires battery-powered system. RAPL requires Intel CPU with RAPL support. Measurements may vary based on system load. Run multiple samples for accuracy.
HISTORY
powerstat was written by Colin Ian King as part of his power management testing tools. It's commonly used in Ubuntu's power testing and optimization efforts.